Phone sex is a growing as a cultural phenomenon and the increase in ads for phone sex in The Independent Weekly has some readers and staff concerned. The periodical has continued to run the ads due to the money from the advertisements which go towards reporting and writing the paper, an increased use of 900 calls in the Raleigh-Durham area, and their anti-censorship stance. The Independent is cautious and does monitor the content of the ad and is aware of the decreased readership that may happen if they run too many ads or allow explicit ads to be printed.